Compression Test 150??? HELP

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Dr.Noisewater
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I had a friend run a compression test and I have 150 across the board. Is that good? I wanna boost some day so I hope Im on my way.


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aceof07
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dude thats great. if all other things are well maintained on your car you should be fine with reasonable boost levels,

Dr.Noisewater
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Oh really??? Cause I was on Zilvia.net and some guy was saying anything about 200 is good. I was gonna change my head gasket and my friend said I dont need to since the compression is 150 all over.

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aceof07
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the guy on zilvia is an idiot. just search around here, you'll find all the answers to any question you can have.

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moso
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150 is a good number to see, you also want em within a few psi of each other. another good test to run is a leakdown test but you need a special gauge and compressed air. google leak down test.

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ZiG
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uhhhhh guys he has a ka24de not a ka24e. 150 is crap. 155 is the factory absolute minimum before they say the engine must be rebuilt.

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Wc240
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leakdown test is really only needed if you have low compression in order to see where your leaking(hence the name) call nissan or look in the FSM for exact specs, not gonna look em up but off the top of my head, id say there not that bad but not that good. believe ZIG is right

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Gabes13
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Compression numbers will vary between testers and whether or not the throttle body is kept open.

Id look at consistency rather than value

Dr.Noisewater
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Crap well we just cranked it cause my fuel rail is off. I wonder if we tested it wrong. I hope I dont have completly rebuild the engine. I read here once that 150 is great for boosting and was what needed. I guess I will read up some more.

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1KleenS13
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150 is normal. They should be within about 10% of each other. You could run a turbo, BUT what is your current compression ratio? I've never personally heard of 200psi per cylinder, Maybe on a diesel.

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480sx
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ZiG wrote:uhhhhh guys he has a ka24de not a ka24e. 150 is crap. 155 is the factory absolute minimum before they say the engine must be rebuilt.
Only decent answer to the OP's question.

150, (not 155 IIRC) is the absolute base limit under FSM specs. Standard is usually about 180.

Consistency across the board is very important, but when your at the absolute base line of your compression reading, especially when they are that even, its blatantly obvious that your rings are very close to the end of their effective life span. Meaning, boosting that motor might not be the best idea. Worn rings + boost = blow by. Blow by = quickly fowled oil. = rod knock, ect..

HOWEVER, after saying all of that.. I would go buy another compression tester and make sure. Or borrow one from a friend. They do go out. Since your compression is so even, there really is a significant chance that your compression tester is just old/bad. Or your engine has a s*** ton of miles heh.

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ZiG
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Yeah, and make sure you follow the proper procedure while doing the test. Make sure you hold the throttle wide open, etc.

Dr.Noisewater
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Well thanks for the help I just wanted to make sure I was not completly screwed. I'm not tossing a turbo on anytime soon. I just want my engine running like a champ. I should be replacing the rings soon anywho.

2kredz3
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480sx wrote:
Only decent answer to the OP's question.

150, (not 155 IIRC) is the absolute base limit under FSM specs. Standard is usually about 180.

Consistency across the board is very important, but when your at the absolute base line of your compression reading, especially when they are that even, its blatantly obvious that your rings are very close to the end of their effective life span. Meaning, boosting that motor might not be the best idea. Worn rings + boost = blow by. Blow by = quickly fowled oil. = rod knock, ect..

HOWEVER, after saying all of that.. I would go buy another compression tester and make sure. Or borrow one from a friend. They do go out. Since your compression is so even, there really is a significant chance that your compression tester is just old/bad. Or your engine has a s*** ton of miles heh.
also the #'s can be that low when cold on a worn engine. for instance my Z24 pushed 120psi when cold but still hits 185psi when hot. i would say 150 is low if that was tested when the engine was hot. on a non-boosted car anything above 150 is acceptable, my Z3 (BMW) has 220psi on all cyl, it came from the factory with 235psi.

hope that helps the OP, i would not boost this engine or you will burn the rings in no time and possible cause other damage.

Dr.Noisewater
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So you think I should not boost at all? I mean I plan to slowly rebuild it before boosting. I'm not a a civic owner..... Jk. I just would rather go KA-T than SR20. I also does anyone have the rubber hood stoppers for a S13 they could mail me for free??? Just thought I would ask while you guys where here.
2kredz3 wrote:
also the #'s can be that low when cold on a worn engine. for instance my Z24 pushed 120psi when cold but still hits 185psi when hot. i would say 150 is low if that was tested when the engine was hot. on a non-boosted car anything above 150 is acceptable, my Z3 (BMW) has 220psi on all cyl, it came from the factory with 235psi.

hope that helps the OP, i would not boost this engine or you will burn the rings in no time and possible cause other damage.
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